A middle-age North Korean man came to one of our discipleship bases for the first time. He was very unhealthy due to malnutrition, and his family in North Korea is suffering greatly due to the Coronavirus restrictions.

Our partner who runs the discipleship base discipled him using materials from our secure NK website. Since Christian material is getting more and more difficult to give to our China-based partners, our secure website provides a precious way that we can give our partners constantly updated materials – songs, books, and teaching videos.

But often the best evangelism/discipleship with North Koreans are ways that Western Christians might consider too basic. For example, our partner read the Lord’s Prayer together with this North Korean five times every morning and every evening. But it was through this basic teaching and practice that the NK man came to understand the reality of God’s care through basic provisions like food.

The man said, “Reading the word every day, I learned from the Lord’s Prayer that God gives us food and protects us, as God says.”

When he first came to the base, his mind was not stable. But, after reading the Bible, the man began to feel more peaceful. Our partner wrote about the man, “I think God’s grace is overflowing.”

Our partner also prayed, “Thank you, Father God. Thank you for sending good people to our discipleship base, for blessing them and for giving wisdom to these who have come. I pray in the precious name in Jesus. Amen.”

Voice of the Martyrs Korea does not help North Koreans to defect to China or South Korea. We partner with the underground church to disciple North Koreans to faithfully witness to Christ wherever God has placed them. PHJ is a good example of such a witness.

PHJ was sex trafficked from North Korea to China and sold to a Chinese man, Mr. Y, an uneducated gambler. PHJ lived a difficult life with her husband, but she was able to get to know other North Korean women in the area who had also been trafficked there.

One day, Mr. Y beat PHJ so badly that she was bleeding from her head. She left home with nowhere to go and reached out to one of the North Korean women she knew. This woman called one of VOMK’s discipleship base leaders, Pastor H, and he was able to give her refuge in the church building.

While PHJ was staying at the discipleship base, Pastor H cared for her and discipled her. Through this, God touched PHJ’s heart, and she resolved to go back to her husband and witness to him by loving him.

With the supernatural work of the Lord, and a lot of help from Pastor H, Mr. Y began to change. This change was first seen in small ways.

At first, whenever guests came, he would ignore them and watch TV. But, through the witness of his wife, eventually he began to join the prayer time, and, later, would join the entirety of the meeting.

But after a little while, Mr. Y became sick with tuberculosis. The couple called Pastor H to come pray for Mr. Y and shortly after Mr. Y. was healed. Mr. Y decided to believe in Christ and was baptized.

Mr. Y still had some issues with gambling after that, but God continued to work in his heart. Mr. Y was even able to re-establish his broken relationship with his daughter.

Unfortunately, now, Mr. Y’s tuberculosis has returned, and one of his lungs has ceased functioning. It appears that he may be close to seeing our Lord soon. Mrs. PHJ is concerned about him and concerned about taking care of their children if Mr. Y passes away. This is a situation in urgent need of prayer.

The following five testimony quotations each come from different NKs in China who have received MP3s containing VOMK’s North Korean dialect audio Bible.

“For the first time, we have received warm love. Here, we are not even able to freely buy an apple. If we do something wrong, we get fined as a means of punishment. On some occasions, we barely receive about 200 yuan (approx. $31 USD) as a monthly wage, after they garnish our money for unjust and unreasonable causes. We would just like to return home quickly as possible. Even just eating corn rice and sleeping peacefully are much better than the life here. We are dispirited because we are surrounded by a steel fence and are always being monitored like criminals by cameras all the time. When we have no work to do, we do not receive monthly wages at all and just survive on our own. In the midst of all of this, the grace of God comes to us. Nobody even gives a piece of candy to share with us. We are so thankful for you who have given us (ministry packs). We have received encouragement and joyfulness as we hear and learn about God through the mp3s before going to bed. We will keep God’s kind grace and blessing in our heart forever and live keeping it, hiding it for our lives.”

“We have lived with the idea that you are bad people. But it turns out that you are good with warm hearts. An executive comrade shared underwear with a small mp3 with us. It has been many months since we wanted to buy a MP3, but we could not afford it. When the comrade freely shared them with us, we were very excited! When I first heard the contents, I was not able to understand it. For the next following days, the comrade in charge had explained to me step by step that I came to understand. We are supporting and sustaining one another by sharing what we have heard from the MP3s.”

“I came to China because I wanted to earn money to survive, but there they provide nothing for us. We have to survive on our own. As the old idiom goes, “Even when the sky crumbles, there is a way out”. God provided us with this precious (ministry pack). We are so thankful for God. Please help us survive as we work here until the day we could come back to home to meet our parents again.”

“At first, I had a lot of fear about the MP3. I was dreadfully worried of being caught listening to the MP3s because I could get killed. On the following day, I made up my mind that I would listen to it and get killed. Then, I heard the news that God created the world. I had lived a foolish life because I thought monkeys became humans. I want to deliver this news to my children. Thank you. But, I have so much regret because I came to know this only after a long time. Nevertheless, I want to live a genuine life.”

“In the sky, stars are whispering and shine upon my heart. Even though our home is different, God is just and fair that He embrace us altogether and give us grace and love. We are thankful for God the Father with unceasing joyfulness and happiness. I will treasure the gift.”

• Pray for Mr. Y. – Pray for the husband of a North Korean defector woman in China. Through his wife’s faith, and through his own miraculous healing from tuberculosis, he came to believe in the Lord. Unfortunately, his tuberculosis has returned, and his family is concerned about him and what they will do if they lose him.

• Please continue to pray for one of our discipleship base leaders who was taken into police custody and later released. He is now being watched very closely by the authorities. Pray that the Lord would give him healing and comfort and that he would continue to boldly proclaim the gospel.